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Von Freymann/Carroux

I won't edit them for now because you "claimed" them (I don't know if we do that, but I would be pissed when someone rewrote Glamdring now). I just like to say we have a slightly different lay-out for persons here; dates are written in full to prevent misunderstandings, and are linked. No * and †, no towns. Look at any other author's page for examples.
Oh, and on Carroux, there's no need to call them Part One, Second Part (or Part Two, for that matter) et cetera.
Keep up the good work. -- Ederchil 08:51, 12 May 2008 (EDT)

Hans-Jörg Modlmayr

Hello Sigismond! I created a page for Hans-Jörg Modlmayr. Perhaps you'd like to have a quick look at the article, as there might be more Tolkien-related information to add. I've noticed that he usually figures in sales of Tolkien's works in Germany -- is it only as a reviewer featured the covers or has he also contributed with postscripts? Thanks! --Morgan 10:38, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

Hi Morgan! Hans-Jörg Modlmayr never wrote prefaces or postscripts for German editions. Modlmayr is often only cited, as you already noticed, on sites, where you can buy German Tolkien editions. I know (because I have this edition on my own) that he is cited at least on the back cover of the one volume edition (red edition; 2000) of the new German translation of The Lord of the Rings by Wolfgang Krege.

Modlmayr is one of the German Tolkien-experts, who have taken a clear position for the new translation. On the site of the DTG there is a transcription of an old radio interview aired on December 10, 2001 on the German broadcaster WDR 5. The theme of the interview was the new German translation of The Lord of the Rings, the interviewer spoke with translator Wolfgang Krege and Hans-Jörg Modlmayr (link). In this interview, there are (unfortunately) no further significant information about Modlmayr, except that he became acquainted with Tolkien’s work in 1964, when he studied at Camebridge.

Many thanks for the information and the links! I'll see if I can add something more to the article (and of course, feel free to edit the article whenever you have time).--Morgan 13:28, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

Fritz M.

Thanks for a good collaboration on the above article! If I may take a little bit more of your time, we recently had an article created about Fritz Möser. The connection of this guy to Tolkien is of course more obscure, though, and I suspect it will be tricky to find more information.--Morgan 19:08, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Hello Morgan! I think, that Fritz Möser is a case, which is more complicate... He is an artist who works especially with the linocut printing technique ("Linolschneider" = someone who produces linocuts). Born 1932 in Bensen (today: Benešov nad Ploučnicí in the Czech Republic) in the former Czechoslovakia, his family escaped after WWII from their former home and moved to the German town of Memmingen. There, his father founded a printing press, where Möser worked as a typesetter till 1982, when it was closed. Fritz Möser learned the linocut technique autodidactic and began to illustrate diferent texts and books. In 1965 Möser opened his first exhibition in Füssen, which was followed by over 250 further exhibitions, for example in Berlin, Heidelberg, Munich, Milan, London, Oxford and Cambridge. Around the time, when the printing press of his father was closed, Möser stoped his artistic activities.

The interesting thing is, that Möser’s exhibitions were for the most part organised by Hans-Jörg Modlmayr(!) and his wife Hildegard Modlmayr-Heimath (see Wikipedia and this passage on the New German Donation in the Germanic Collection on the website of the University of Camebridge). I think, that there is a link! I don't think that Möser personally sent any of his works to Tolkien, but maybe Modlmayr did and told Tolkien about his friend the artist? In my eyes, that would make sense! Have a look at Chronology by Hammond/Scull, there is an entry for 14 March 1967: "[...] Tolkien writes to Alina Dadlez. He encloses a letter from a German apparently proposing an illustrated edition of The Lord of the Rings. It is not clear if he is proposing himself as the artist, or if it is the English edition or the German edition that he thinks should be illustrated. 'As far as an English edition goes', Tolkien writes, 'I myself am not all anxious for The Lord of the Rings to be illustrated by anybody whether a genius or not' (Tolkien-George Allen & Unwin archive, HarperCollins)." (Hammond/Scull, p. 692) It’s a pity, that Hammond and Scull could not give the name of "the German". But, when I look at the German auction site (especially on the date of the letter), it could be possible, that Modlmayr was "the German", who wanted his friend Fritz Möser to illustrate The Lord of the Rings... for nothing is known about a correspondence between Möser and Tolkien. This would be my explanation, but the sources only verify the connection between Fritz Möser and Hans-Jörg Modlmayr. --Sigismond 08:47, 4 June 2012 (UTC)